Trivial and normative? Online fieldwork within YouTube’s beauty community

Dr Florencia Garcia Rapp joined the School of Journalism, Media and Communication as a lecturer in Media Audiences and Users in April, having previously worked at University of Antwerp, Belgium.

A photograph of the Journalism building taken from the outside.

Her research interests are media and digital cultures, more specifically the examination of online communities and practices, as well as fandom and popularity development.

She recently published her sixth and last piece on YouTube's beauty community, where she examines methodological understandings around online fieldwork, interpretive epistemologies and research engagement with popular cultures.

She questions prescriptive modes of argumentation that quickly classify people, cultures, and objects of fandom as normative/resistant/legitimate/trivial. Rather, Florencia approaches audiences (users, fans, citizens) from the perspective of media anthropology, acknowledging subjectivities within a global media landscape.

She is currently examining the reception of the TV series Game of Thrones in Argentina, Spain, and Germany. Her other project deals with fandom, citizenship and identity on Facebook and focuses on Argentinian politics.

Centres of excellence

The University's cross-faculty research centres harness our interdisciplinary expertise to solve the world's most pressing challenges.